Thought I'd start a nice, clean new thread on this subject seeing as how it's been splashed all over the news the past few days. Listening to Paul Silvi on King5 News in Seattle tonight, he doesn't think the Kings are gonna come to Seattle, so I'm thinkin' the Hornets are the target? This stuff has an expiration date as well. From what I understand, a solid arena plan needs to be in place NEXT MONTH (March) for any of this stuff to go through, so we'll know soon what's going to happen. Here's a lengthy article from the Seattle Times today.

You know im down for assasins and ninjas and hell anything to get my sonics back.

God Bless America and God Bless the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS - TEZ

Mike Bullene ‏@12thManM1ke 45m@TDESPN Though, you did say the other night you cannot win the SB riding a defense. Even though you are literally the poster child for that. --twittered back at dilfer after he tried to slam hawks fans.

BlueThunder wrote:Thought I'd start a nice, clean new thread on this subject seeing as how it's been splashed all over the news the past few days. Listening to Paul Silvi on King5 News in Seattle tonight, he doesn't think the Kings are gonna come to Seattle, so I'm thinkin' the Hornets are the target? This stuff has an expiration date as well. From what I understand, a solid arena plan needs to be in place NEXT MONTH (March) for any of this stuff to go through, so we'll know soon what's going to happen. Here's a lengthy article from the Seattle Times today.

It's getting very interesting and exciting! Can't wait to see how this turns out. It BETTER not turn out badly after all this hype!

the March deadline is the deadline the NBA has set for Sacramento. Seattle has no deadline seeing as we have no team trying to come here or trying to stay here. We're just sharks in the water right now swimming around Sacramento, the other sharks though are Louisville, Kansas City and Anaheim.

You know its funny they pull the team out of here. And now they have lost the revenue the sonics brought. And with the league losing money. Its funny these talks have started. But i am glad they are and am hoping it leads to the sonics reborn.

God Bless America and God Bless the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS - TEZ

Mike Bullene ‏@12thManM1ke 45m@TDESPN Though, you did say the other night you cannot win the SB riding a defense. Even though you are literally the poster child for that. --twittered back at dilfer after he tried to slam hawks fans.

The league was losing money welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll before the Sonics bounced on us. It was the arena point blank, KeyArena was simply outdated and couldn't provide the revenue for the team to function at competitive level moneywise and on the court. The city officials sold the team out and failed the fans in every way imaginable. Yeah Bennett wasn't honestly trying to get an arena done here. what was it a 3 billion dollar proposal? and NO money from the fat boy himself? He wasn't serious at all, he was a joke here in Seattle. Howard Shultz is the ultimate chump, didn't get his way and made everyone pay for it. It was really in the leagues best interest to leave if there was no plausible arena solution in sight (which there wasn't). I don't think the league ever wanted to leave, but the situation in Seattle was unworkable at that time.

I hate Stern and think his comments after the fact were like salt in the wound. I wish nothing but horrible things on Bennett and Hope Coward Shultz gets attacked by a pack of wild munchkins. But I ultimately blame Seattle City Council. The comments made by Nick Lacatta that could've been taken as racist. Frank Chopp for sitting on his hands. It was a collabrative effort from all parties that had a hand in aside from the Players, coaches and fans that killed the Sonics and birthed the Thunder.

To tell you the truth I really believe that we have a much better shot at getting the Hornets than the Kings, because doing some research, I found that the Kings are actually pretty close to getting a new arena deal in place. And we know how difficult at times the city New Orleans has had in being able to support teams other than the Saints.

One part that struck me was that the Kings were almost moved to Anaheim, and are still in the running for the team. Anaheim?? So, L.A. would have 3 teams??? Really? With the Lakers there, as well as their red-headed stepchild Clippers (edited), who the hell would watch the Kings in L.A.? Plain stupid if you ask me, when the 13th largest market is right up I-5 in Seatown, with a built-in, starved fanbase. What's wrong with the idiot(s) running the NBA?

BlueThunder wrote:One part that struck me was that the Kings were almost moved to Anaheim, and are still in the running for the team. Anaheim?? So, L.A. would have 3 teams??? Really? With the Lakers there, as well as their red-headed stepchild Warriors, who the hell would watch the Kings in L.A.? Plain stupid if you ask me, when the 13th largest market is right up I-5 in Seatown, with a built-in, starved fanbase. What's wrong with the idiot(s) running the NBA?

You mean the clippers? lol

I think the Hornets are actually a longer shot, some rumors are Tom Benson (owner of the Saints and the dude who pretty much owns everything that is the Nola Sports Scene) is interested in the Hornets. Stern described the Sacramento situation as fluid, so to me that means nothing really concrete has happend. We got 3 weeks though!

And the Lakers and Clippers do not want the Kings in their territory at all, and I have no idea why the NBA would want them there as well, talk about saturating the market.

And I just saw a sports report by Paul Silvi, King5 Seattle, saying the Hornets aren't going anywhere. So I think the Kings, at least for the time being, are our only option. Sounds pretty iffy to me. Maybe if we can secure the NHL team and build an NBA worthy arena, then we'll be poised to jump on the next troubled NBA franchise if the Kings deal falls through. I still am holding out hope that the voters in Sacramento will vote down a new arena proposal. Things are pretty rough right now in California for taxpayers. The whole thing sounds eerily familiar to our own Sonics debacle.

"Marshawn Lynch does not run. He Rumbles. And he shook the ground with a perfect '10' on the Beast-quake Scale"NFL Films on 24 yard TD run in NFCCG vs Packers

Man the more I am hearing about this I no longer feel as confident as I once did a couple days ago. I mean I really doubt that the Kings will get moved outside of Cali, and as BlueThunder said the Hornets now seem to be tied to New Orleans for the time being so what other chances do we have of getting a team if the two best options don't work out?

Blitzer88: the other day throwdown mentioned that the bucks were having some difficulties in Wisconsin these days because the Bradley Center is very outdated. I was thinking something along the lines of the Bobcats as a wild card. North Carolina is a basketball hotbed but the team has been terrible since the Hornets left for New Orleans. Micheal Jordan is only interested in making money, the fact that they gut the team every 3 seasons to get back to a nice profit margin while casting away the best players on their team screams to me that they need new ownership/leadership.

This is a long shot, but as they are the last expansion team to join the league and have done rather poorly since their inception, it is possible that the axe may drop on them in the long run. Jordan is a business man and Seattle's market is a lot bigger and under served in comparison to the current set up in North Carolina (where they care a lot more about NCAA basketball than the NBA).

This will have no legs but if the league had any interest in doing the right thing (yeah i know that is a subjective term inherently differentiated by anyone attempting to classify the situation) it would cut some of the fat from the east coast and send it up to the PNW.

However, in talking to a very respected source let's be very clear about some of the issues at hand and why both Kevin Calabro (as connected as anyone in NBA circles) and Mayor McGinn have been on the record stating the "planets need to align to make this happen."

First and foremost, according to my source, the possibility of the NBA returning back to Seattle is connected completely to Sacramento. There should be no false aspirations about Milwaukee or Memphis or New Orleans, the relocation plot is centered completely around the Sacramento Kings and their deadline looming March 1st for a new arena proposal.

Now this has me thinking that if the kings don't happen it's probably going to never happen. Just my opinion though. NBA seems committed to New Orleans. Milwaukees probably going full bore, it could be years. I just don't see that happening, and if they're having arena proposals based off just one team? c'mon man thats stupid, weak, horrible and is a horrible thing to do to the Sonics fans who are hanging on every thing with hope in their hearts. Seattle will never publicly fund an arena, and it seems that local wealth won't do anything without some type of funding.

Sucks to say but if it doesnt happen now? my depressive side thinks it'll never happen.

And no, that means no NHL either. IMO no one in their right mind is going to build an arena with the sole purpose to use it for hockey.

Seattle needs to get it together, man. I'm really getting tired of it all. I'm tired of looking for news everyday and hoping some city pulls the same mistake Seattle did when they let the Sonics go and we end up with the spoils of their loss. I'm SICK of being teased with all this crap. If it doesn't happen now? I'd seriously think about giving up being excited like a kid on xmas morning who's waking up his parents at the first sign of sunlight. I'm going to be demoralized, you see Kendrick Perkins face when Blake Griffin punched on him? yeah thats going to be that kind of demoralization.

Man... Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I LOVE basketball with all I got, been my favorite sport since forever, and the sonics were the main reason. I just don't want to get excited like this for nothing. Everyones saying the right things, but we ultimately don't control the outcome of the situation.

Throwdown wrote:Man... Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I LOVE basketball with all I got, been my favorite sport since forever, and the sonics were the main reason. I just don't want to get excited like this for nothing. Everyones saying the right things, but we ultimately don't control the outcome of the situation.

Well whatever you do, do not listen to this interview with Bruce Harrell of the Seattle City Council. He was on with Softy today. And pretty much said that no public money would be asked of if this current deal that's being talked about were to go through.

The biggest and main thing holding me back from getting too excited about all this talk has been the fear of a great deal being presented that asked for an incredibly minor public contribution. And that it would almost assuredly get shot down by the public. The political climate here currently would never in a million years approve of spending a dime. They wouldn't even allow current Safeco or Qwest taxes to be used. It's a non-starter.

So I hear a city council member go on the radio and state that this deal if everything works out, is only going to ask of the city to make minor infrastructure investments along with other small things. Man. I am trying REALLY hard not to get excited. REALLY HARD.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post. Bruce Harrell is an admitted sports fan. He played football at UW. It's still encouraging hearing him say "I will be surprised and disappointed if this doesn't go through," but it's understandable if he's one of the more enthusiastic council members.

Now as for less than sports fan friendly city council members. Every fan's favorite pal, Nick "The NBA adds ZERO cultural impact on the city" Licata is going to be on with Ian Furness on KJR coming up in the next our. Should be interesting to say the very least.

SeaTown81 wrote:One thing I forgot to mention in my last post. Bruce Harrell is an admitted sports fan. He played football at UW. It's still encouraging hearing him say "I will be surprised and disappointed if this doesn't go through," but it's understandable if he's one of the more enthusiastic council members.

Now as for less than sports fan friendly city council members. Every fan's favorite pal, Nick "The NBA adds ZERO cultural impact on the city" Licata is going to be on with Ian Furness on KJR coming up in the next our. Should be interesting to say the very least.

we'll know A LOT on March 1st. Right now from what we're hearing Sacramento City leadership might be falling apart at the wrong time. They have to have a proposal ready by the 1st, if they don't? the team is outta there and either on its way here, or anaheim, kansas city, or Louisville. Hopefully they'd become the Sonics and I can get my ass ready to buy some ticket packages.

Whoever this Jean Godden creature is, shes...kind of...stupid? worried about traffic? 3 events on day? c'mon man! Has this thing ever heard of sports and why they have seasons? doesn't the world series (not like i'm counting on that happening anytime soon) end nicely before the NBA season kicks off? Seahawks and Sounders share a venue, Sonics and the NHL team would share the venue so they'd have something worked out, max there'd be two events going on twice in one day.

Example: Seahawks at 1pm to 4pm and then there would be a 3 hour period of nothing and the Sonics/NBA would start at 7 and let out around 9-10.

Jean Godden used to be a columnist for either the Seattle Times or The PI, I can't remember which. As an avid newspaper reader, I usually read her columns, and repeatedly slapped my forehead over her complete ignorance of anything past the 1960's. She's an old biddy that only got elected because of name familiarity. I bet the only sport she ever watched was her grandson playing T-ball and gushing "Ohhh...isn't that so cute!". She's a small-minded, goody-two-shoes idiot... at least that's always been my impression. She's the type that wouldn't want a penny spent on anything pro sports, but would raid the coffers over a new opera house or Art Museum. That's all you gotta know about that worthless bitch.

But back to the Kings thing. Don't write it off quite yet. I listen to Kiro radio at work in my headsets after Bob Rivers signs off, and both the Dave Ross show and Dori Monson have spent time every day this week talking to people about this deal. First, if I lived in Sacramento and was a Kings fan, I would be very nervous right now. They need to get a deal done by March 1st, and it's not looking all that great for them. They even cancelled a presser about the deal, covering up and walking off with drawings they had for a new arena. That can't be good.. for them. The current owners are practically broke, and they want to sell. They also owe the city millions. The city has 11% unemployment. This is gonna be a tough sell for the Mayor. All the insiders on this thing, that are talking at least, are giving it at least a 50/50 chance of happening. And I really believe there are some back-room dealings going on. Why the hell would this invester actually BUY the property south of Safeco Field if he wasn't pretty damn sure something was gonna happen? My gut says that after March 1st, Sonics fans are gonna be happy. We just have to be patient and wait 'till March 1st. Everything should fall into place at that time...........hopefully. So don't give up quite yet Blitzer. I'm not gonna give up hope until the word is officially given that we've been f'd again.

"Marshawn Lynch does not run. He Rumbles. And he shook the ground with a perfect '10' on the Beast-quake Scale"NFL Films on 24 yard TD run in NFCCG vs Packers

Honestly, I feel bad for Kings fans. But I wouldn't feel bad for taking the Kings. They have no control over whats happening at all and according to some figures the odds just dont look good at all, no matter how positive Mayor Kevin Johnson sounds. Anytime you ask the NBA for 80 million up front for a new arena, you're asking for problems. They don't want to pay for the Maloofs, they've already bailed them out once. So I'm hoping it doesn't happen lol, call me a jerk, I don't care! I want some NBA 'round this bishhh!

Watching the Blazers playing in New Orleans tonight it looks lik their arena is about 1/4 full, if that. Personally I think they're more likely to relocate then Sacramento which has traditionally been a pretty good basketball city.

I don't give a rip what Sac thinks. We were boned so hard that I don't feel sorry for any other city after what Stern/Schultz/Bennett did to our awesome, storied NBA city. To me, there is a HUGE difference between stealing a team from a city with a lesser and kinda weak NBA history (Sac) to a city with a longer and more respected history that was unjustly robbed (Sonics), to a bunch of scrubs ripping a team from a city with deep roots and history (us) to a city with NO NBA history (Oklahoma).

"Marshawn Lynch does not run. He Rumbles. And he shook the ground with a perfect '10' on the Beast-quake Scale"NFL Films on 24 yard TD run in NFCCG vs Packers

JSeahawks wrote:Watching the Blazers playing in New Orleans tonight it looks lik their arena is about 1/4 full, if that. Personally I think they're more likely to relocate then Sacramento which has traditionally been a pretty good basketball city.

From what I've heard, the NBA has commited to keeping the Hornets in N.O. I've heard that option is completely off the table, unfortunately.

"Marshawn Lynch does not run. He Rumbles. And he shook the ground with a perfect '10' on the Beast-quake Scale"NFL Films on 24 yard TD run in NFCCG vs Packers

JSeahawks wrote:Watching the Blazers playing in New Orleans tonight it looks lik their arena is about 1/4 full, if that. Personally I think they're more likely to relocate then Sacramento which has traditionally been a pretty good basketball city.

The New Orleans Hornets seem like the logical candidate, but the NBA wants to save that market. The Katrina tragedy appears to be the motivating factor. The league is probably concerned about bad press if they leave the area. The former owner Shinn had made a mess of things there after being allowed to leave Charlotte. Aren't they good until 2014?

BlueThunder wrote:Jean Godden used to be a columnist for either the Seattle Times or The PI, I can't remember which. As an avid newspaper reader, I usually read her columns, and repeatedly slapped my forehead over her complete ignorance of anything past the 1960's. She's an old biddy that only got elected because of name familiarity. I bet the only sport she ever watched was her grandson playing T-ball and gushing "Ohhh...isn't that so cute!". She's a small-minded, goody-two-shoes idiot... at least that's always been my impression. She's the type that wouldn't want a penny spent on anything pro sports, but would raid the coffers over a new opera house or Art Museum. That's all you gotta know about that worthless bitch.

But back to the Kings thing. Don't write it off quite yet. I listen to Kiro radio at work in my headsets after Bob Rivers signs off, and both the Dave Ross show and Dori Monson have spent time every day this week talking to people about this deal. First, if I lived in Sacramento and was a Kings fan, I would be very nervous right now. They need to get a deal done by March 1st, and it's not looking all that great for them. They even cancelled a presser about the deal, covering up and walking off with drawings they had for a new arena. That can't be good.. for them. The current owners are practically broke, and they want to sell. They also owe the city millions. The city has 11% unemployment. This is gonna be a tough sell for the Mayor. All the insiders on this thing, that are talking at least, are giving it at least a 50/50 chance of happening. And I really believe there are some back-room dealings going on. Why the hell would this invester actually BUY the property south of Safeco Field if he wasn't pretty damn sure something was gonna happen? My gut says that after March 1st, Sonics fans are gonna be happy. We just have to be patient and wait 'till March 1st. Everything should fall into place at that time...........hopefully. So don't give up quite yet Blitzer. I'm not gonna give up hope until the word is officially given that we've been f'd again.

Man I wish I have you positiveness lol. I really really want this to happen as I don't my heart broken again.

JSeahawks wrote:Watching the Blazers playing in New Orleans tonight it looks lik their arena is about 1/4 full, if that. Personally I think they're more likely to relocate then Sacramento which has traditionally been a pretty good basketball city.

I don't get it. My whole thing is if you know your team is in trouble, specifically due to the fact that the attendence for the Hornets is crap and if they're all up in arms about the idea that their team could leave wouldn't they show up?

Hell in seattle attendence wasn't the issue and we showed up even for a lame duck season.

That being said, I don't care who it is that comes here. Kings, Hornets, Bucks, Pacers, Bobcats I got no problem being home to a franchise that cant function properly in the town they are in. I'll feel bad for the fans, but I want their team.

JSeahawks wrote:Watching the Blazers playing in New Orleans tonight it looks lik their arena is about 1/4 full, if that. Personally I think they're more likely to relocate then Sacramento which has traditionally been a pretty good basketball city.

From what I've heard, the NBA has commited to keeping the Hornets in N.O. I've heard that option is completely off the table, unfortunately.

It doesn't matter how bad they suck now, we just need a franchise. Any franchise. Then we slap the Sonics name on 'em, install our own new front office and players over a few years and it's a completely different team.... hopefully a good one. The most important piece of the pie, of course, is how good/rich our new owner(s) would be. Pray we don't get some cheap penny-pincher that has no commitment to winning a championship and only cares about being profitable. If that happens, they may as well have stayed gone to me, 'cause I wouldn't be watching them.

"Marshawn Lynch does not run. He Rumbles. And he shook the ground with a perfect '10' on the Beast-quake Scale"NFL Films on 24 yard TD run in NFCCG vs Packers

First and foremost let me get this out of the way, having a basketball team is in no way shape or form ever going to make up for the impact of Hurricane Katrina upon the city of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana and the entire southeastern United States. Don't get me wrong it is a beautiful thing for the people of New Orleans to have sports to entertain them and for them to lose themselves in other activities to reduce the levity of such a catastrophic event. BUT they don't even go to the games anymore and the Saints run that city and always have. That Superbowl win was the sporting equivalent of their return from Katrina and helped generate a lot of pride for the area. Not that a Superbowl will ever fix any of the problems that were created during that storm but its a nice reprieve.

Ok now it is just a farce that they still have a team and get the carte blanche treatment from the NBA and David Stern in regards to their struggling interest and support of their team. Its really a sad joke, nobody wants to invest in the team anymore because it is regarded as a lost cause until somebody comes up with hundreds of millions dollars to purchase them. The local economy has other fish to fry and more important issues to deal with than a faltering basketball team which never found its place in the city upon its return from Charlotte. That is another point of contention for me, George Shinn's stupid ass should have never been able to move the team from North Carolina and Stern definitely did not need to put the Bobcats in Duke/UNC/WOLFPACK country when expansion talks were underway. They are smart basketball fans in N.C and won't buy into a poorly run team even if Micheal Jordan is still riding his NCAA championship goodwill in the state (i know he is also from there...big deal). Guy guts the team every ten days to extract a better profit margin when he is a kajillionaire.

Anyway, the city of Seattle deserves a team because the fans bleed green and gold, N.O not so much. Stern can't take another public relations hit before he retires (lockouts, relocation's, poor decisions blocking the Chris Paul trade etc...) so this is probably going to die on the table if N.O is the target. Like it was previously stated, we should get Sacramento because the Maloofs are poor and won't be bailed out a second time by the NBA. Christoper Hansen (sp?) would spend to put a team out there to compete or this entire process is a moot point. I don't think he would invest in the location for the stadium and pressure the NBA in conjunction with the city officials of Seattle if he just wanted to make money. He could start other business ventures much more easily. This is about him becoming a local hero like Paul Allen by resurrecting the Sonics and making them relevant again in American Sporting Culture. If this guy gets the team, we are going to kick ass and take names. Money will be spent and he will get all the support he needs from the fans in a similar vein.

soohawk wrote:First and foremost let me get this out of the way, having a basketball team is in no way shape or form ever going to make up for the impact of Hurricane Katrina upon the city of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana and the entire southeastern United States. Don't get me wrong it is a beautiful thing for the people of New Orleans to have sports to entertain them and for them to lose themselves in other activities to reduce the levity of such a catastrophic event. BUT they don't even go to the games anymore and the Saints run that city and always have. That Superbowl win was the sporting equivalent of their return from Katrina and helped generate a lot of pride for the area. Not that a Superbowl will ever fix any of the problems that were created during that storm but its a nice reprieve.

Ok now it is just a farce that they still have a team and get the carte blanche treatment from the NBA and David Stern in regards to their struggling interest and support of their team. Its really a sad joke, nobody wants to invest in the team anymore because it is regarded as a lost cause until somebody comes up with hundreds of millions dollars to purchase them. The local economy has other fish to fry and more important issues to deal with than a faltering basketball team which never found its place in the city upon its return from Charlotte. That is another point of contention for me, George Shinn's stupid ass should have never been able to move the team from North Carolina and Stern definitely did not need to put the Bobcats in Duke/UNC/WOLFPACK country when expansion talks were underway. They are smart basketball fans in N.C and won't buy into a poorly run team even if Micheal Jordan is still riding his NCAA championship goodwill in the state (i know he is also from there...big deal). Guy guts the team every ten days to extract a better profit margin when he is a kajillionaire.

Anyway, the city of Seattle deserves a team because the fans bleed green and gold, N.O not so much. Stern can't take another public relations hit before he retires (lockouts, relocation's, poor decisions blocking the Chris Paul trade etc...) so this is probably going to die on the table if N.O is the target. Like it was previously stated, we should get Sacramento because the Maloofs are poor and won't be bailed out a second time by the NBA. Christoper Hansen (sp?) would spend to put a team out there to compete or this entire process is a moot point. I don't think he would invest in the location for the stadium and pressure the NBA in conjunction with the city officials of Seattle if he just wanted to make money. He could start other business ventures much more easily. This is about him becoming a local hero like Paul Allen by resurrecting the Sonics and making them relevant again in American Sporting Culture. If this guy gets the team, we are going to kick ass and take names. Money will be spent and he will get all the support he needs from the fans in a similar vein.

Just curious, is it a 100% certainty that when you get a new team they'll automatically be the Sonics again?

Its hard to put myself in your position as a sports fan but i was thinking if the Blazers left, leaving a really bad taste in my mouth, then the NBA moved another team back in a couple of years that I would want to start over with a brand new franchise rather then just revert back to the Blazers again.

JSeahawks wrote:Just curious, is it a 100% certainty that when you get a new team they'll automatically be the Sonics again?

Its hard to put myself in your position as a sports fan but i was thinking if the Blazers left, leaving a really bad taste in my mouth, then the NBA moved another team back in a couple of years that I would want to start over with a brand new franchise rather then just revert back to the Blazers again.

I mean is possible, but the name and colors were left here for the possibility of a franchise returning.